Latest news with #decommunization
Russia Today
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Putin slams ‘neo-Nazi' Ukrainians for demolishing Soviet WWII monuments
Radical Ukrainians are idiots for targeting Soviet monuments to World War II heroes, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said. This behavior alone 'gives us reasons to say that these people have a neo-Nazi ideology,' he stated during a visit to Kursk Region, which borders Ukraine, on Tuesday. 'If they participated in a competition for idiots, they would have finished in second place. Why? Because they are idiots,' he added, paraphrasing a popular joke. 'By doing what they are doing, they show their nature.' Last August, Ukrainian forces launched an incursion into border areas of Kursk Region, which Kiev claimed was intended to seize territory as leverage in eventual peace negotiations. The Russian military reported the full liberation of the area in late April. Putin's visit — made public only on Wednesday — was his first to the region since the Ukrainian operation. He toured the site of a nuclear power plant that Kiev's troops had unsuccessfully attempted to capture, inspected its ongoing expansion, and met with volunteers who helped repel the attack. Following a Western-backed coup in 2014, Kiev launched a policy of 'decommunization,' renaming streets and communities to erase Soviet-era heritage. It also dismantled statues and memorials dedicated to the Red Army's role in liberating Ukraine during WWII. After the conflict escalated in February 2022, the practice expanded to include landmarks associated with Russian history more broadly — such as the removal of a statue of 19th-century poet Alexander Pushkin in Odessa, a city designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Ukrainian government continues to glorify historical figures who opposed Russia for any reason, including members of nationalist militias who collaborated with Nazi Germany and committed atrocities during WWII. Moscow maintains that neo-Nazi ideology and symbolism are prevalent among radical Ukrainian nationalists. 'De-Nazification' remains one of Russia's stated goals in the ongoing conflict.
Russia Today
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Ukraine detains pensioner honoring Victory Day (VIDEO)
Ukrainian police have detained an elderly woman who went to lay flowers at the Eternal Flame memorial in Kiev on Victory Day, wearing a Soviet-era side cap with a red star. The star, as well as other symbols and names associated with Ukraine's Soviet past, have been banned by Ukraine's notorious 2015 decommunization laws. Police officers confronted Galina Savchenko, 85, at the monument on Friday, telling her that the symbol she was wearing is forbidden. In a video published by local media, she is seen holding a bouquet of red flowers and a photograph of her father in his World War II Soviet military uniform. Behind her, the monument is seen covered with flowers. The officers asked her to provide an explanation at the police station. 'I've been there six times already,' Savchenko said. 'Now the whole world will know that you are chasing me off.' Regarding the red star symbol, the woman said, 'Oh, you can barely see it,' adding, 'Not like your swastika.' It is not clear from the video what the woman was referring to regarding the officer's uniform. However, Nazi ideology is common in contemporary Ukraine. Nationalists in Ukraine hold annual torchlight marches in honor of Stepan Bandera, who headed the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), which collaborated with the Nazis and perpetrated and took part in a number of massacres. Ukrainian servicemen are regularly caught on camera wearing the swastika and other Nazi symbols in the conflict with Russia. Savchenko has been listed on the Ukrainian state-linked Mirotvorets 'kill list' since 2018. Her page accuses her of 'anti-Ukrainian propaganda' and taking part in 'anti-state activities.' According to Ukrainian news reports from 2024, she arrived at the memorial in full Soviet uniform for Victory Day last year. In 2023, Kiev changed Victory Day from May 9 to 8, and named May 9 'Europe Day', as part of its efforts to distance itself from Russia. Many Ukrainians continue to defy the changes.
